Weekly Toll: Death in the American Workplace

Pastor Found Dead Inside Church

March 3, ARLINGTON, TX - 29 year old Rev. Clint Dobson, Pastor of Northpointe Baptist Church, was found dead inside his church Thursday afternoon. His assistant was found severely injured. According to a police spokeswoman, a friend of a worker at the church in north Arlington was having trouble reaching the worker and went to the church at around 4 p.m. Thursday. While walking around the outside of the church, the friend looked in a window, saw someone lying motionless on the floor and called police. Police say the killer evidently store the injured assistance's car. She remains hospitalized.


California Truck Driver Killed In Oregon

March 3, RUFUS, OR - 48 year old Lino Domingo Lopez-Hernandez, a commercial truck driver from Bakersfield, CA was killed Thursday in an unusual accident. Oregon State Police say Lopez-Hernandez had stopped to look for an axle and two tires that came off the truck. As he was walking along the freeway shoulder, a pickup truck hit the axle, knocking it into him. He then went over a guardrail and fell about 200 feet down an embankment where he was found dead.


Worker Killed in Industrial Accident

March 3, MANSFIELD, OH - 55 year old Danny H. Wolfe was killed Thursday in an industrial accident at Americarb in Ashland. He suffered abdominal injuries while working on a piece of machinery. An autopsy will be done to determine the cause of death, although the preliminary finding is Wolfe died of internal bleeding. OSHA is investigating.




Two Workers Electrocuted During Home Renovation

March 3, LITTLE ROCK, AR - 33 year old Ignacio Camorilla has been identified as one of the workers who died while working on a home renovation project in Little Rock. According to police, the metal scaffold they were on came into contact with live power lines. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene. Police are waiting to release the other victim's name until next of kin can be notified.


Tree Trimmer hits Electrical Line With Equipment

March 2, ST. PETERSBURG, FL - 50 year old George Arthur Ball died while trimming a neighbor's tree today. Ball was using a gas-powered pole saw with a chainsaw at the end. He had one foot on an extension ladder and his other foot was in the tree, then when he cut the limb, the momentum took him forward and the pole saw made contact with an electrical line carrying 7,200 volts of electricity, a spokesman said.



Business Owner Shot to Death by Disgruntled Employee

March 2, ATHENS, TN - 48 year old Darrell R. Franklin of Sweetwater, owner of Fay Innovative Waste Solutions, was shot to death by one of his employees Wednesday. The employee and Franklin reportedly had a confrontation earlier and after leaving, the employee returned with a gun. After killing Franklin, the employee committed suicide. Franklin was also Pastor of Trinity Baptist Church for over a decade.


Superintendent Working at Mine Facility Dies in Accident

March 2, AURORA, NC - 51 year old David Clark of Chocowinity, was killed at the PotashCorp mining facility around 5 p.m. Wednesday. Clark, a veteran employee of Trader Construction Co. Clark was a superintendent with the company with more than 30 years of industrial construction experience. Trader Construction Co. and PotashCorp mining facility are working alongside MSHA to determine the cause of the fatal industrial accident.


Delivery Driver Crushed Under Truck Tire

March 2, PORT TOWNSEND, WA - 69 year old Allen Clifford Hurn of Sedro-Woolley was found Wednesday, crushed under a truck tire in an industrial park near Port Townsend. According to a Jefferson County Sheriff Spokesman, Hurn was making a delivery to Sunshine Propane when he called his Whatcom County employer to report truck trouble. He was instructed to drive the truck to Tacoma for repair. He was later found by another employee arriving for work, pinned under the truck's rear wheel. His death is being investigated as an industrial accident.


Truck Driver Crushed Helping to Off Load a Truck

March 2, BIRMINGHAM, AL - 52 year old Steven Spillars of Mississippi died in Birmingham today after he was crushed by a tractor trailer he was helping to unload. Spillars was behind a truck helping to open the back doors when the truck backed up and pinned him between the trailer and the loading dock, said Jefferson County Deputy Coroner Bill Yates. Other workers heard him yell and discovered he was pinned. He died at UAB Hospital.


Truck Driver Death on Interstate Being Investigated

March 2, STONE CREEK, OH - 61 year old Garey L. Spung of Zanesville died of unclear circumstances Wednesday. Deputies said the patrol received numerous calls of a commercial tractor-trailer rig blocking the southbound lanes of the interstate. Spung was found unconscious inside his rig. He was transported to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead of suspected natural causes. The tractor-trailer rig is owned by US Xpress Inc.


Business Owner Shot to Death by Employee

March 1, APOPKA, FL - 39 year old Nasser Alkatlan was shot and killed Tuesday by one of his employees during an argument. According to police, the employee returned from a flooring job and was confronted by Alkattan in the parking lot, and they started arguing before shooting Alkattan. Police say there's a some information that possibly a job that the employee was doing earlier didn't go well, maybe the customer called in a complaint.


Farmer Killed When Caught In Farm Machinery Drive Shaft

March 1, ARCADIA, WI - 69 year old David A. Fernholz died Tuesday after his clothing got caught in a power drive shaft of a manure spreader, according to the Buffalo County Sheriff's Department. Reports indicate Fernholz was repairing the spreader as it was running inside a machine shed.


Man Dies From Fall Into Meat Grinder

February 28, HANFORD, CA - 72 year old Leopoldo Gutierrez was killed Monday when he fell into a meat grinding machine. The incident happened at Central Valley Meat Co. in Hanford. No other specific information is available.



Worker Dies From Being Trapped in Culvert

February 28, WHITE HOUSE, TN - John Bosch, a White House Public Works employee, died after he became trapped in a culvert Monday. Officials said Bosch was working near a culvert on a drainage issue. When Bosch began removing the debris, he suddenly fell into the rushing water into an underground culvert. Other workers from the crew tried frantically to dig up the ground but Bosch was later found some 40 yards from where he fell.



Tractor Trailer Driver Dies in Collision

February 28, MURFREESBORO, TN - 59 year old William D. Stewart of New Hope, AL died when his 2006 Freightliner box truck, carrying janitorial supplies, collided with the back of another semi that had slowed down for traffic. Slick driving conditions after heavy storms likely contributed to the collision. Stewart died at the scene and the other semi driver was transported to the hospital for his injuries.



School Bus Driver Likely Had Medical Issue Before Bus Crash

February 28, BLACKFOOT, ID - 64 year old Joann Jensen died Monday while on route for Stalker Elementary School. Officials say Jensen was driving a Teton Stage Lines bus with 34 students from Stalker Elementary School when she lost control of the bus at about 2 p.m. None of the students were injured and it appears Jensen suffered a medical condition before losing control of the bus. She drove the same route for over 13 years.



Worker Dies of Blunt Force Injuries

February 28, LUFKIN, TX - 44 year old Clayton "CJ" Johnson died of blunt force trauma to the chest after a piece of metal fell on him while he was doing maintenance work at the Brookshire Brothers warehouse Monday. According to the police investigative report, Johnson's death was caused by a loading dock ramp falling onto him. Johnson worked at Brookshire Brothers for four years.




Immigrant Farmer Killed by Bull

February 26, FARMINGTON, WI - 23 year old Dilshodbek Mirkamilov, an immigrant worker from Asia, died of chest injuries after he was trampled by a bull on the farm he was working on. Mirkamilov had been employed on the same farm for the past two years, where he was responsible for moving cows from a freestall barn to the milking parlor.


Worker Dies in Accident at Waste Water Plant

February 25, HANOVER PARK, IL - 51 year old John Fergus of Mount Prospect died Friday from injuries he suffered in an accident involving a Bobcat machine. Details of the accident have not yet been released. Fergus was an electrician with the Water Reclamation District of Great Chicago and father of six.


Contract Worker Electrocuted

February 24, RIVERSIDE, CA - 71 year Curtis Elmer Martin of Corona, a contract worker for Stronghold Engineering working at UC Riverside, was electrocuted on Thursday while working on an electrical panel in the basement of the university's geology building, coroner officials said. He did not return when he was expected and someone went to find him," Campus Spokeswoman Lovekin said. She said there were no regulations prohibiting Martin from working alone.


Other Fatalities That Have Come to Our Attention by Other Means:

February 3, EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ - Mario Romero died as the result of a fall. He worked for Romero's Construction.

January 6, PARAMUS, NJ - Dominick Ricco died of respiratory failure. He worked for Shop Rite.

February 17, CLIFTON, NJ - Albert Marquez died as a result of being struck by an object. He worked for Joseph M. Sanzari, Inc.

February 1, KINGS, NY - David Fritz died as the result of a fall from height. He worked for Regal Plumbing Corp.

January 20, NEW YORK, NY - Richard Smith died as the result of a fall from height. He worked for R. Smith Restorations.